This summer, Gallery Morning in Higashiyama, is opening its doors to STRATUM, a collective exhibition of works by three international artists exhibiting in Kyoto for the first time.

The exhibition will showcase the three artists’ process-based work, merging the layers of two worlds: of what is seen and what is imagined.

Stratum refers to an accumulation of layers – layers that react to each other, complement each other, and often share qualities with each other. When seen together, these layers can lose definition because of the subtleties of their inconsistencies, but they do remain separate, defined by the stratum in which they reside. This exhibit focuses on three different levels of layering: material, digital and conceptual. STRATUM invites viewers to try to both see and experience the layers behind the works exhibited.

The collection for the week is comprised of collage and sculpture, light installation and photography, and line paintings.

EASTE (Eimi Tagore-Erwin)
American artist based in Kyoto, Japan. She works largely in mixed media, studying how different contexts can change perceived value in objects. EASTE combines elements of sculpture, collage and design to make micro compositions within larger overall pieces.

OKOK
Swedish artist based in Stockholm, Sweden. OKOK, creates a world where endless imagination meets spontaneous movements of a hand disconnected from the brain. Deeply focused on his penmanship, his study of pattern, repetition, and form bring reality into a new reality.

TJ Perrin
American artist based in Stockholm, Sweden. He works with photographs as mediated forms of personal reflection. He depicts the world in two, focusing on the multiple sides of modern day individuals, environments, and devices.

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Our pal, Christopher Fryman, is hosting a series of New Directions events at Urbanguild these days, and has asked me to help spread the word about the next show on July 9th. As Christopher is a pal, and the list of performers does look rather good, and especially as this will be a NON-SMOKING EVENT (!!!) I am very happy to oblige.

Directions: To get to Urbanguild from Sanjo Dori, go down Kiyamachi Dori (This is the narrow street running alongside the Takase stream). Urbanguild is on the east side (the left hand side as you walk down from Sanjo) about 150 metres. It’s on the 3rd floor of the New Kyoto Building – access by elevator or stairs. Here is a MAP.

Christopher is particularly keen that people come to see Kyoto-based composer Hitomi Shimizu who will be playing a quarter tone keyboard that she made herself. Here are some more details…

Hitomi SHIMIZU is a composer for film and TV soundtracks and winner of the Japan Academy Award 2001 for the Japanese film “Waterboys”. Hitomi has studied music composition since the age of 14 and is especially intersted in micro tuning. After graduating from Toho Gakuen Conservatoire, she built herself a 43-tone microtuning organ and made frequent live performances with violinist Hiromi NISHIDA as a duo “SYZYGYS” in Tokyo. She plays “microtuning pop” which is Hitomi’s life work. “SYZYGYS” CDs are available worldwide, produced by John Zorn on his TZADIK label. For her solo works, she plays 205/octave microtonal keyboard called “Tonal Plexus 6s” as well as her self made 43 tone organ.Takeshi Unate is an Asian style, one-man-band ‘pokopoko’ musician. He plays with body and spirit. His hands use many melodic instruments, singing with his mouth and nose, beating with his feet and an array of flutes, whistles and other rare instruments.

Yuko Nazuna is a shodo (Japanese calligraphy) artist. She has performed live calligraphy at shrines and temples in Nara.

SIETE PASSOS PARA EL CIELOare an esoteric free style band playing a beginning, middle, and end. Their influences range from Mahler to Mingus. They are

Himeko Narumi is a dancer and art model who has danced all over Japan and participated in many International Festivals. She is currently a member of “The Physical Poets” that use body movements and dance. At the same time, she has a career as a solo dancer and has been working with music in improvisation dance sessions. She focuses on invisible things, a sense of air, music, mind and energy, and the spirit of the land…

Alison Tokita is running an intensive 3-day course on Japanese traditional music at Kyoto City University of Arts, August 18th – 20th, 2015.

Click to download PDF

This short-short course will introduce many of the genres of traditional Japanese music that have been transmitted to the present and are still actively performed. The course will also discuss the varied ways of experiencing musical modernity in the context of the overwhelming dominance of western music in Japan. It will provide an accessible overview of Japanese music culture for non-Japanese participants, including performers, composers and musicologists. It is also intended for Japanese participants who are interested in an international perspective on Japanese music, and students planning to study abroad who want to know something about their ‘own’ music as well as western music.

The major genres include gagaku, shōmyō, and shakuhachi and koto music. The narrative genres of heike and jōruri and their place in the nō, bunraku and kabuki theatres will be introduced. Practical encounter with some genres during learning sessions, and an evening concert will be included.

Cost: 5,000 yen (payable in cash at the commencement of the course)

Schedule: There will be two sessions per day over three days. Morning session 10:00-13:00 Afternoon session 14:00-17:00 (The following schedule may be adapted depending on the interests of participants.)

HOW TO APPLY: Registrations must be received by Friday July 31 by email. Payment will be made on the first day of the course, August 18, between 9:00 and 10:00. Registration form can be found on the website.Enquiries and registration: public@kcua.ac.jp
Enquiries can also be made to the course convenor, Alison Tokita: tokita@kcua.ac.jp
Here is the link for further details and a contact form:http://jupiter.kcua.ac.jp/jtm/events/c_course/2015/hogakuatgeidai.html

Good news for would-be photographers – Javier Montano of Daijoubu! Photography is organizing another Photo Walk. It’s a great opportunity to socialize, pick up some tips from expert photographers and improve your own shooting technique. No special equipment is required to join the walk – all you need is a camera or i-phone.

Congratulations to Charles Roche on his first exhibition, “For Friends”. On Sunday, Mewby and I popped into Papa Jon’s Eatery to check out his paintings and we were both really impressed. Viewing his work, it really is extraordinary that Charles has only been painting for two and a half years and is completely self-taught.

Charles with one of his most recent pieces, “Inexorable Autumn”.

While there I took the opportunity to appreciate another piece of artistry; this Velvet Blueberry Cheesecake.

Art and cheesecake – what more could you want? The show continues until May 17th, and if you would like to meet the artist in person he will be there to greet you from 5:00 pm. I would encourage you all to go and take a look.

This image courtesy of Charles Roche.

Location: Papa John’s Eatery is on the 3rd floor of the Shimpukan Building, just south of Oike, on the east side of Karasuma.

This looks like fun and there is still time to catch it! From Marguerite Paget:

Experience a special and exciting night viewing of the Martin Gusinde’s exhibition: The spirit of the Tierra del Fuego people, Selk’nam,Yamana, Kawésqar.

Every day from 8-9pm at Kyoto City Hall open square in the Paper Tube Pavilion by Shigeru Ban.
The venue will be plunged into darkness during the event. Bring your torch or borrow one at the venue!

Date: everyday from May 1st until May 10thTime: from 8 to 9pmAdmission Fee: Adults, Students (University, High school students) 500 yen or KYOTOGRAPHIE passportPlace: Kyoto City Hall open square
488 Teramachi-Oike, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto,604-8571Subway Tozai Line Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae Station” 1 min. on foot from exit 15 Keihan Line “Sanjo Station” 7 min. on foot from exit 12

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“A Scene from A Play” by Masanobu Okumura (1686–1764), depicting Edo Ichimura-za theater in the early 1740s – public domain.

My latest article for Inside Kyoto is about a visit to Kyoto’s Minamiza Theater to see a kabuki show. Going to see kabuki is one of those things I have long wanted to do, but somehow I had never gotten around to – until now. I had strong doubts before going about whether I could enjoy it, as I knew that the language would be archaic and difficult to understand. In the event I couldn’t understand a lot of what was going on in the show, but nonetheless I enjoyed it immensely. Find out why by clicking on the link!

Here’s a project inspired by a song learned by every child in Kyoto. “Kyoto toori na kazoe uta” 「京都通り名数え唄」 is a folksong used to memorize the names of the streets that run east to west from Marutamachi in the north of Kyoto, all the way down to Kujo in the south.

The Streets of Kyoto: Image courtesy of Visions of Kyoto

The song goes like this.

Inspired by this song, the “Visions of Kyoto” collective, seven foreign-born photographers long resident in Kyoto, have tried to capture the spirit of modern Kyoto, by photographing these 26 streets. You can see their efforts displayed at Cafe Foodelica until Monday 11th of May. And the opening party is at Cafe Foodelica on Saturday 25th April from 18.30. Check their website for details: http://visions-of-kyoto.jimdo.com/

In historical Kyoto, the past is very much alive, tangible and relevant to our lives in the present, and it informs us as we try to describe our visions of the future and move forward together. “Visions of Kyoto” is our way to express what Kyoto represents to us in photographs. However, our aim is to not only show the traditional face of Kyoto, but also the city as it exists today, new and modern and vibrant. We would be delighted if our photos help people better understand and feel more connected to Kyoto. Kyoto is, after all, not a city stuck in the past, but a city of innovation, technology and scholarship. With “Visions of Kyoto” we take pride in the city and its people, forging a link with future generations, and spreading appreciation for Kyoto beyond Japan to the world. – Visions of Kyoto

About Ensō Watt:
Initiated in 2014 by the sound designer Samuel André, the Ensō Watt artist collective is born in Kyoto from the encounter of artists coming from different countries and raised in entirely different artistic universe, from classical music to electro, improvisation and sound design.

The Seasonal Rites:A hundred years after Stravinsky’s revolutionary “Rites of Spring,” the members of this artistic collaboration pursue the experience-cum-experiment by focusing on Japan’s seasonal cycles, especially celebrated by the little-known mountainous tribe, the Sanka.

The Show:The music is inspired by the poetry of Chris Mosdell; it navigates between improvisation and conducted improvisation live by Yannick Paget, based on scored music’s elements. The performers, positioned in the audience, generate an immersive, musical surround-experience (broadcast on 4 speakers). More than just a musical experiment, the event is also shot live via a series of 6 cameras, and is processed and projected on 2 screens during the performance.

The Poet:
Incidentally, the poet Chris Mosdell recently released a wonderful bilingual book of poems written in Kyoto entitled The City That Silk Built. Chris was kind enough to send me a copy which I shall review in good time, but for now, you can take a look at it on Amazon.co.jp.